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A Bet Against Internet Gambling 07 February 2001 A
Bet against Internet Gambling I love gambling. Who
doesn't? The minute you walk into a casino you are
overwhelmed by exciting noises, flashing lights
and people having a good time. There is so much
excitement it isn't hard to become addicted,
especially after your first big win. The rush you
get from winning is something that is hard to
parallel. Trust me I know.

I almost became
addicted. I realized the trouble I was heading for
before it was too late. I was a lucky one. Many
people aren't as lucky. It is especially easy for
people who live very close to a casino to get
addicted because it is so easily accessible.

Now
imagine if everyone who had a computer had 600+
casino's right in their own living room. It is
like everyone having access to crack cocaine all
the time. Not quite as addictive, but you get the
idea. That is why I am for Internet gambling
prohibition. Some people might say that
prohibition isn't fair, that there are people who
can handle the responsibility.

Why should everyone
suffer because some people can't handle it? I
would tell them that in making a decision like
whether or not Internet gambling prohibition
should be enforced the benefits should outweigh
the risks. In this case they definitely do.
Internet gambling is easy to get hooked on. There
are advertisements for casinos at almost all of
the major search engines and home pages (ex:
yahoo, metacrawler, excite etc.). Many of these
advertisements claim that they have free gambling
or give away free money. For example one casino
will give you $125.00 for a $50.00 deposit.

Do you
think they would really give you that money if
they weren't confident that you would get hooked
and spend it all there or if they thought that
they wouldn't get it all back? Once they have
lured you to their websites it is easy for them to
get your money. It seems a lot easier to spend
virtual casino tokens purchased with a credit card
than it is to spend your actual hard earned cash
at a real casino. Another obvious problem with
having online casinos is that children have easy
access to them. There is no way to check ID.
Anyone with a credit card number can play. Parents
of children who gamble online are legally
responsible for the debt that their children
accumulate.

It is especially easy if the parents
have already been to that particular casino and
set up an account. All the child would need is a
password and many computer operating systems have
the option of saving passwords and filling them in
for the user. Young people are especially
vulnerable to Internet gambling. "In virtually all
studies of the rates of gambling problems at
various ages, high school and college-aged
individuals show the highest problem rates," said
an advisory on Internet gambling and addiction
issued by the American Psychiatric Association
(Gugliotta 1). Some people believe that online
casinos are good for the local economy because
they provide jobs and tax revenue for a community.
This may be true but the community isn't local.
Most online casinos are located overseas to avoid
taxes and US regulations.

Another reason for
prohibition is that there is no way to regulate
online overseas casinos. Real casinos in the
United States are strictly monitored for fairness
and must pay out certain a certain percentage. A
large percentage of online casinos are not
physically located in the U.S. (de Bendern 1).
Even if their government monitored these casinos
would we want another country dictating what is
fair for our gamblers? Online casinos aren't the
only way of gambling online. There are also cyber
bookies for sports betting and so-called "free"
lotteries.

National sports leagues are against
online betting for two good reasons. "When people
are putting money down on games, it does enhance
the possibility of actual corruption," says David
Remes, an attorney for the NFL. "It also sends a
terrible message to young people and children
about what these competitions are about." The
"free" lotteries aren't quite as harmful as the
other forms of online gambling but they definitely
aren't free. They don't cost money to play but you
must sacrifice your privacy. These websites
generate revenue by selling the personal
information that you are forced to supply in order
to play.

Some of the information that you must
supply is your name, address, phone number or even
household income. I don't think allowing online
gambling to be legal is worth the dangers
involved. I am betting that Internet Gambling
Prohibition is the right way to go. People who
love to gamble will always be able to travel to
Las Vegas or their local Indian reservation, but
there is no need to put children and families at
risk by making gambling too easily accessible.
Bibliography 06 February 2001 Annotated Works
Cited De Bendern, Paul. "Stacking the Deck: Online
Casinos Are Global Phenomenon." abcNEWS.com 09
Mar.

2000 Online gambling is growing world-wide.
Paul de Bendern lists the following statistics;
"In 1997 there were 40 gambling Web sites. Now an
estimated 650 e-gaming Web sites have sprung up
globally, many in the Caribbean and Canada."
Gugliotta, Guy. "Young Gamblers Flocking to the
Internet: As Sites Proliferate, the First Online
Generation Grows Vulnerable to Addiction." The
Washington Post Online 26 Jan. 2001. The rapid
growth of Internet sites dedicated to gambling has
made wagering much more accessible than it ever
was.

As a result, more people are prone to getting
into debt through gambling, and even becoming
gambling addicts. Gugliotta says that young people
may be at the highest risk. "In virtually all
studies of the rates of gambling problems at
various ages, high school and college-aged
individuals show the highest problem rates." Ito,
Tim and Staples, Sharisa. "Overview: The Odds on
Prohibiting Web Bets" The Washington Post Online
Jun. 1999.

In 1999 the national Gambling Impact
Study Commission released its recommendation that
gambling via the Internet be prohibited in the
U.S., however most companies that operate gambling
sites are located offshore. Ito and Staples state
the problem this way, "Changes in law follow
changes in society, but our society has been
changing so rapidly, sometimes the law cannot keep
up." Reiter, Luke and Wellen, Alex. "Viva Virtual
Vegas" TechTV Online There are many reasons why
gambling via the Internet should be prohibited.
One outstanding reason is that there is no good
way to regulate Internet gambling. Reiter and
Wellen state the following: "How can we be sure
that a casino from a foreign country will actually
send US bettors their winnings? How can we be sure
that foreign casinos are not doctoring the odds or
manipulating outcomes?" Wasserman, Elizabeth.
"Analysis: Should the U.S. regulate or ban online
gambling?" CNN.com 14 Aug.

2000 Many people are
supportive of Internet gambling prohibition,
however they are worried about how the prohibition
would be enforced if it were passed. Wasserman
admits that the law would be hard to enforce. "We
don't know how to control the flow of drugs into
this country, either," she says. "But that doesn't
make it legal." Current Events.